Police investigate missing gun

A handgun belonging to the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service has gone missing, according to a statement released by the department on Monday.

The weapon, which was last recorded as being used by police about a year ago, has been listed as missing from the RCIPS inventory.

According to a statement released by the police service Monday: “Following a recent review of all RCIPS assets we have removed, or ‘written off’, nine guns from our weapons inventory. Seven of these guns are unserviceable and are scheduled to be destroyed following the current [gun] amnesty period. In addition, one which has been listed as missing since the chaotic events following Hurricane Ivan in 2004, has also been recorded as a ‘write off’.

“Finally, the one issue this review uncovered, which is causing greatest concern is that a handgun, last recorded as being used around a year ago, is missing from our inventory,” the police statement read.

RCIPS Deputy Commissioner Steve Brougham has been conducting an investigation into the missing weapon for about a week, the police confirmed. All officers who had access to the weapon are being interviewed.

“RCIPS armouries, buildings, boats etc. are in the process of being searched,” the police statement indicated. “To date, the weapon has not been traced.”

The police service noted that a handgun was recovered last week in the bushes of Admiral’s Landing in the Red Bay-area. The fully-loaded weapon was not a police-issued firearm, the department said.

“The RCIPS has a rigid policy in place in relation to the issue and storage of police firearms,” the department statement read. “It is clear that this policy has not been complied with on this occasion.”

Please check editions of the Caymanian Compass later this week for more on this story….